My late husband Esse was born in Sweden, thus the strange spelling of 'Young'.   To give credit where it is due, he was head of CBC radio drama for years, achieved the Order of Canada, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Victoria and many many awards for his contribution to the Arts.
For those old enough to remember, he was CBC radio drama producer Esse. W. Ljungh. If it were not for Esse's support, encouragement and patience, I would never have enjoyed this hobby, which I had always dreamed about.

He & I acquired our first two pet shelties in 1972 while living in Victoria, B.C. and, having fallen in love with the breed, continued to 'collect them' and train for obedience and just hugging.

Having moved back to Ottawa (my home town) and then moving to Kingston in 1984, & after extensive training and attendance at many seminars, among them several credits at University of Guelph in canine behaviour, I began to instruct in competitive obedience for a local all breed club in 1986 while competing myself.   In 1990 whilst my husband was very ill, & with the help of my best friend, long time breeder Patti Graham, & others, I took the plunge and soon Macbarra's very first litter was born, just in time to sneak 2 tiny puppies into the hospital room where the charge nurse eventually found the entire nursing staff behind the closed door!!  We were so happy that Esse got the chance to see the new babies before he went to the Rainbow Bridge to re-unite with the shelties he named, Gin and Tonic!

As well as obedience degrees, & conformation titles, some of  the furkids have achieved their flyball degrees with our Up and Running Flyball Team, and we remain active in just about all facets of dogdom!  We even had a string of 6 sledding Shelties at one time but the original gang and the owner are too creaky to do that anymore.  Some of our dogs loved by others are advancing rapidly in the Agility & Rally sports.

  Special thanks goes to my mentor and companion Patti Graham, Greumach Reg'd (formerly Grabley Perm Reg. Shelties from 1969)  for her advice, grooming and handling over the years.  Patti is a Certified Groomer with the U.S.National & Ontario Dog Grooming Associations, works out of St. Lawrence Vet Services, & has years of experience in showing, competing & instructing competitive obedience.